F y? 
- lis- 1^ ?f 



LIbHAHY Uh UUNUHbbb 



.1 I i iiinili II lllilllllllllll I' 



014 014 333 9 O 



Hollinger 



F 73 
.61 

.K5 B79 
Copy 1 




KING'S CHAPEL BUEIAL-GEOUND. ,. 

Office of the Board of HJE^ttH, 

Boston, March 6, 1879. 
" To the City Council of Boston:^ 

" Gentlemen, — The Board of Health respectfull}- reports that the 
public health requires that future interments in each and all the 
tombs in King's Chapel burial-ground be prohibited. Said tombs 
are numbered from one to twenty-three, inclusive, in the front 
portion of said ground, and from one to twenty-four, inclusive, in 
the rear, and from one to thirty-two, inclusive, in the interior 
portion of the same, 

" The names of the past and present owners of said tombs, so 
far as we know, are hereto annexed. 

" S. H, DURGIN, Chairman." 
■ (Then follows a long list of names.) 

" City of Boston, April 12, 1879. 
"Agreeably to the provisions of Chapter 182 of the Acts of 
1877, notice is hereb3- given to the owners of the tombs described 
in the foregoing report of the Board of Health, to appear before 
the special committee of the Cit}- Council, appointed for that pur- 
pose, on Tuesday the twent}'- second day of July next, at 3 o'clock, 
P.M., at the City Hall, Boston, and show cause, if any the}' have, 
why each and all of said tombs in the King's Chapel burial-ground 
should not be closed against an}' future interment therein, 

"S. F. McCLEARY, City 

The members of the Board of Health are : — 
Dr. S. H. DuKGix, Chairman, 

Hon. A. W, BOARDMAN, 

Mr. J. M. Keith. 

The Special Committee on Interments, to whom this subject was 
referred , are : — ■ 

Aldermen J. A. Tucker, Chairman, 

" J. S. Robinson, 
Councilmen J. J. Barry, ^ 

Geo. H. Wyman, 
" Geo. T. Perkins. 

A^rst meeting of the committee was held on the twentj'-second 
day of July last, and an adjourned meeting will be held at City 
Hall, Thursday, September 4, 1879, at 2^^ o'clock P.M., at whicli 
all parties may be heard. 




■K^Bii 



SoMK Extracts fuom Recent Rkpouts of the Board of Health. 

P. 9, 1875. " The propriety of closing several of the cemeteries 
in the city proper against an}- fiirtlier burials has been considered, 
and Ave full}' believe that the time has arrived when no further in- 
terments should be made in the following grounds, viz. : King's 
Chapel, Granary, Copp's Hill, and Central. Others might be 
given, but these require more immediate action. The work of find- 
ing and notifying the various proprietors according to law, before 
closing, is somewhat formidable, and has been the cause of some 
delay ; but this work is being forwarded as fast as possible. The 
dilapidated condition of the tombs, monuments, and head-stones, 
and the dangerous walks which are now constantly breaking through 
into tombs in the Granary and Chapel grounds, have suggested 
the question as to whether the cit}^ would not do well to make an 
arrangement with the proprietors b}" which the remains ma}' be 
removed and deposited elsewhere in grounds equally desirable for 
cemetery purposes. 

' ' As it is, a large outlay of money is required annually for the pur- 
pose of making the necessary repairs, wdiile the general decayed and 
unsafe appearance of things renders the grounds neither ornamental 
nor creditable to the city. 

" We have mentioned this question of removal to several of the 
older proprietors, and in evei-y instance the response was decided 
and favorable for removal." 

P. 15, 1876. "The cemeteries and burial-grounds in charge of 
this Board are a continuous and jearl}- increasing expense to the cit}^ 
Mau}^ of the fences are old and dilapidated, requiring large repairs. 
The walls have been affected more or less b}' the frost, and por- 
tions of them have already been relaid. The high wall of the Copp's 
Hill cemeter}' has been considerably thrown out of line, and will soon 
require relay'ing. The monuments are crumbling away, and must, 
in the course of a few years, be replaced or removed altogether. 
Many of the tombs have fallen in, exposing their contents, and 
have been repaired at the expense of the city, in consequence of 
the difficulty of finding the proprietors. 

"If these tombs are to be kept in good condition, they should 
be filled up with earth and closed against further burials. Every 
year has lessened the number of those who feel an interest in these 
tombs. Only so much mone}' has been expended by the Board 
upon these grounds as was absolutely necessary to keep them in 
decent condition. 

"The work of ascertaining the names of the proprietors is pro- 
gressing slowly, in consequence of the diflaculty of tracing the 
proprietorship from deficient and imperfect records. 

" The Board, as time elapses, is still more convinced that it would 
be for the best interest of the proprietors and the city to have the 
contents of these grounds, lyi'^^g i^ the city proper, removed to some 
cemetery without the limits, or remote from the centre of the city, and 
the grounds utilized for some other p)urpose" 

P. 17, 1877. " The cemeteries under the charge of this Board 



^ 



> contain about thirty-seven and one-half (37]) acres of land, 

^ (1,634,892 sq. ft.) divided as follows, viz. : — 

********** 

Boston proper. Kind's Chapel cemetery . . 19,200 sq. ft. 
Granary " • • 81.900 " 

o ********** 

^ "It has been the aim of this Board to expend as little money as 

-^ jiossible upon these grounds, and at the same time keep them in a 

"^ creditable condition. 

" The time is fast approaching, however, when a much larger 
yearly expenditure will be required for repairs on walls, fences, 
monuments, etc., which are fast going to decay. We believe the 
time has already arrived when the cemeteries within the city proper 
should be closed against further burials, not only as a sanitary 
measure, but imth )he vieio of eventually removing the remains of 
the hodies ivhich have been buried therein to some more suitable 
locality in the stiburbs. 

" The following estimate of the value of the lands in the Chapel 
and Granary grounds is estimated upon the valuation of land in 
their vicinity : — 

Value of Chapel ground . . , . . $300,000 00 
Value of Granary grounds .... 900,000 00 

Total SI, 200, 000 00 

" If they could be sold at this valuation, or taken by the city for 
public use, say for the extension of City HaU or a Court-House, the 
amount would purchase a larger tract of land in some outlying 
district or neighboring town, put it in proper condition, and still 
leave a surplus, the income of which would, if properly invested, 
be more than amply sufficient to keep the grounds perpetually in 
order. 

" Sooner or later (it may not be in this or the next generation), 
the remains of those buried in these cemeteries will be removed, 
and the ground will be used for other purposes. 

" Tliere can be no better time for such a movement than wdien 
some of the descendants of those who were buried therein are liv- 
ing, and can see that the removal is properly accomplished." 

The report of 1878, p. 23 and 24, repeats the same remarks, 
and quotes the law of 1877 on the subject. 

" An Act to Amend Chapter 28 of the General Statutes, above 
quoted, in respect to closing tombs in cities, was passed in 1877, 
the material part of which reads as follows : — 

" Section 1. The City Council of any city may, upon report of 
the Board of Health thereof that the public health requires it, and 
after public notice and hearing in the manner hereinafter provided, 
forbid future interment in any tomb or tombs within the city 
limits. 

" Sect. 2. The report of the Board of Health above mentioned 
shall specify the tomb or tombs to which its action refers, and 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



014 014 333 9 



name the owner or owners thereof, if the same be known ; and 
thereupon," etc. 

Sect. 3 provides for the lepair of an)' tomb b}' the owner or 
the Board of Health, and if the cit}' shall incur any expense in re- 
gard to an}- tomb, said tomb shall be held and no further use of it 
made, until, etc. 

The report then continues : — 

" Complaints have been made to the Board in a few instances of 
interments in private tombs nnder churches in the central part of 
the cit}-, asking the action of the Board to prohibit such interments. 

" But Avhile the Board is full}' convinced that such interments 
are injurious, and, as a sanitary measure, ought not to be permitted, 
still in any given case inquiry always discloses such a divided senti- 
ment among the owners of the tombs and the worshippers in such 
churches, as to the fact whether interments there have become 
prejudicial to the public health, — some maintaining the aflirmative 
and others as stoutl}' asserting the contrar}', — that it is very 
doubtful whether he jury b}' Avhom the question would ultimately 
have to be decided would sustain the action of the Board of Health 
and City Council in prohibiting such interments. While almost all 
intelligent men are willing to assent to the abstract proposition, 
that interments in populous places are injurious, the moment that 
any interference with private property is recommended as a means 
of carrying such proposition into effect, the hostilit}- of the owners 
is instantl}' arroused ; and unless a strong case of necessit}' can be 
made out, such interference will not be sanctioned b}' the tribunal 
of final resort." 



Every one who knows anything of the condition of the King's 
Chapel Burying-ground will see at once that these statements do not 
relate to that cemeter}'. 

The argument against " interments in populous places" seems 
to have no bearing on the plan to destroy an Old Historical burj-ing- 
place that has existed from the first settlement of the country, and 
is used no more than this is. 

From City Registrar's Records. 

Original interments in, and removal of bodies from other places 
to tombs in King's Chapel burying-ground during the five 3'ears 
from 1874 to 1878 inclusive : — 

1874. 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. In 5 years. 
Interments, 2 2 1 None 4 9 

Removals, 3 2 1 None 2 8 



Total, 5 4 2 None 6 17 

The next meeting of the Committee luill be held at City Hall, 
Thursrlay, Sej)temher 4, 1879, at 2 o'clock P.M., at which meeting 
all persons interested loill he heard. 

Boston, Sept. 18, 1879. 



F y? 



LIbHAHY Uh UUINUHtbb 




li ilii lllliilll III 

014 014 333 9 <| 



Holljngjer 
pH SS 



«««1« Tk 



